A coalition of 19 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services’ plan for restrictions on “gender-affirming” treatment for minors.
Their lawsuit charges that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overstepped his authority last week when he issued a declaration vowing to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from health care providers who offer such treatments.
“HHS is putting care at risk and forcing families to choose between their personal health care choices and their doctor’s ability to practice,” Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said in a news release. “Health care decisions belong with families and their health care providers, not the government.”
In its new policy, HHS rejected such treatments such as puberty blockers, hormone therapies and surgeries, deeming them unsafe and ineffective for minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
The declaration says that such gender-affirming care does not meet medical standards of care.
“The Kennedy Declaration has immediate, significant, and harmful impacts on the Plaintiff States as administrators of state Medicaid programs and as regulators of the practice of medicine,” the lawsuit reads.
Mr. Kennedy’s decision cited a peer-reviewed report by the Health Department that suggests psychotherapy is the better option for minors experiencing gender dysphoria.
“This is not medicine, it is malpractice,” Mr. Kennedy said last week. “Sex-rejecting procedures rob children of their futures.”
This policy is consistent with several recent restrictive moves by European nations on the evolving issue of the value of such care.
Britain does not allow gender-affirming care for minors at all, while the health systems of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland limit and strongly discourage it while not banning it outright.
But in the U.S., the major U.S. medical organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children’s Hospital Association and Physicians for Reproductive Health — all condemned the declaration.
The declaration comes as part of a multifaceted effort to limit gender-affirming health care for minors. HHS also issued two proposed rules to withhold federal funds and cut off Medicaid and Medicare from facilities that provide gender-affirming care to minors.
The proposals are not yet legally binding as they must go through a lengthy rulemaking process and public comment before being finalized.
The lawsuit against the health secretary and the department’s inspector general argues that they sidestepped the required public notice and comment periods by issuing the declaration.
At last week’s press conference, Mr. Kennedy dismissed potential legal threats, predicting that his department would win in the courts.
• Mary McCue Bell can be reached at mbell@washingtontimes.com.
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